Week 1- 19 July 2023

Principal's Message

Kia ora Koutou

Welcome back to school. There was a buzz on Monday as everyone returned and enjoyed talking with friends and playing in the playground. A very warm welcome to the following new families who have joined us - Indie, Avalon, Tom, Dhruv, Mirali, Nicholas, Prabhav.

We are pleased to have Emma Muirhead back in the Ruru team. We are delighted to have Grace Cornejo and Jack Wing join our staff. Grace is teaching with Judith and Eleanor in Ruru Iti and Jack Wing is joining the Teacher Aide team. We have appointed Rose Baty to teach Emma McElrea’s class when Emma goes on parental leave in early September. Rose is currently teaching two days a week in the class.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to being part of the historic opening ceremony of the FIFA Women’s World Cup at Whairepo Lagoon. We are taking ten students who are our pōwhiri leaders, our whaikōrero speakers, and our karanga callers as representatives from our kura. Three waka will be entering the lagoon at the start of the ceremony. 

I have had a few people ask about links to the event, please see two links below that should broadcast the event live:

 https://facebook.com/events/s/hinemoana-ka-eke-at-whairepo-l/795162338977407/

 https://t.wellingtonnz.com/c/j5JC_wrN-ECH7EYvy_dYXQ

At the end of last term we shared all students' mid year snapshot of progress and achievement through the HERO platform. We are working towards HERO being our main platform for communication, sharing learning, sending event information for teams and group events. As we transition onto this platform, you will receive more information through HERO either as an email or a notification depending on how you have set this up. 

If you need support with logging on please contact Jane Batchelor at janeb@northland.school.nz or Julia Truesdale at office@northland.school.nz

I have spoken to a number of parents who found HERO easy to set up and gave them quick access to the snapshot and curriculum achievement. It is important that you have read the snapshot so you can discuss further with your child’s teacher next week at the Learning Conversations.Parent/ Teacher learning conversations will be held on Tuesday 25th July and Thursday 27th July.  If you still need to make a booking please go to www.school.interviews.co.nz and the code  6xq9h.

On Monday an event message was sent via HERO to parents of children who are part of our Kapa Haka. Please check HERO and complete the google form so your child can be part of the Whakanui Ahurea - Kāhui Ako Cultural Festival - 2023 at the Alan Gibbs Centre @ Wellington College on Thursday 3 August.

The Board are pleased to announce that Vertbuild has been appointed to commence work on replacing the ageing roof and windows in Rooms 1-3 (the junior school block Ruru Iti), as well as interior renovations to bring the three classrooms up to a higher standard for a better teaching and learning space.   

We anticipate that this will be a 3-6 month project, which will commence at the end of term 3. 

So this work can take place, these classrooms need to be empty during this time. Thankfully we have plenty of space in Te Kōhanga to accommodate Ruru Iti, who will be set up in Te Kōhanga at the end of this term ready for the beginning of Term 4. The classes  will remain in Te Kōhanga while this work is completed through until the end of the year.

Closer to the time we will be asking parents to help with moving furniture and resources and setting up Te Kōhanga, and we would really appreciate your help. We will keep everyone updated as we go.

 With this major construction piece finalised, we can now turn our attention back to considering the next stages for the development of the play spaces and playground.  We will update you with more information after our next board meeting.

We look forward to seeing many of you at the Learning Conversations and also the Team Hui that are happening next week or the following week. These are one way that we celebrate and share what has been happening in teams over the last term.

If you would like to come and chat or have questions or concerns please get in touch with any of the senior leadership team, Andrea, Jane and Judith.

Ngā mihi nui

Andrea

Updating Contact Details

If you have changed contact details, emergency contact information, phone/email or address please let the office staff know.  We need to make sure you are all receiving the correct information from the office and staff.  This includes  SeeSaw   Hero   Email   Newsletter.   

This is vital information in an Emergency.   

Learning Conversations

Parent/ Teacher learning conversations will be held early in Term 3 on Tuesday 25th July and Thursday 27th July. Please go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz  and the Code is   6xq9h.

Ecostore in Northland School

Northland School in a NZ-first Pilot with Ecostore

Ecostore is working with us in a  NZ-first pilot to ensure our soaps have plant and mineral-based ingredients. A number of students at Northland School have experienced rashes and eczema from the chemicals in the soaps at school - the same soaps used across schools throughout NZ. Even if kids don’t appear to be affected by the chemicals, we think our kids should be safe and using soaps with no nasties. The Ecostore programme will swap out the current soap in school with Ecostore soaps across the school, which is also better for our planet.

The programme will see Ecostore provide Northland School with attractive discounts. They are also giving us gift packs which we can use in fundraising events. And for parents who don’t want nasties in their soap and cleaning products at home, Home & School have negotiated preferential rates for Northland School families and friends, which will also help us raise funds for the school. We will be offering the top 52 selling products with a discount of 10% or more. 

The next steps will see our environmentally-focused student reps helping to clean out the old soap and replacing it with Ecostore.  We also have our first special Northland School friends and family Ecostore fundraiser coming soon.

School Disco Friday 4 August

"Glow in the Dark"   School Disco   is on Friday 4 August 

Thanks to Cameron Maceachen of Handy Rentals (and Northland School parent) the tickets for this year's disco are free!

We still need you to order a ticket so we know how many students to expect and supervise.  We will have the ticket order form emailed out on Friday with the Events calendar.
Spot prizes will be given out on the night so break out your best dance moves!   Year 1-3 students need to be supervised by a parent. Please can we have some volunteers to supervise at the Year 4-8 Disco.  Please send us an email if you are available to help.

We will have snacks and drinks and Glow in The Dark fun stuff available to purchase on the night so bring along some cash too. 

Y1-3     6.00pm - 7.00pm                Y4-8     7.30pm - 8.30pm

We'd love to provide baking as snacks during the evening so if you'd like to help out, please deliver your baking to the school office by 3pm Friday 4th.
Any questions please get in touch with homeandschool@northland.school.nz

School Cultural Day

Me tiro whakamuri, kia anga whakamua - If we want to shape Aotearoa New Zealand’s future, start with our past.

Our community embraces opportunities for working together, values diversity and contributes to make a difference for everyone.  

This year our school Cultural day will be held on Wednesday 20 September. We hope to involve as many families as we can and share as many of the cultures that we have in our school. 

You may like to teach a craft, dance, a tradition that is significant to your culture or family, share stories, make something, teach a particular skill that is important to you. These are suggestions. 

If this is something that you are able to support us with, please complete the Google Form HERE and we will be in touch. If you have any other ideas or would like to speak to someone, please contact the office. 

Thank you for your time and offer to support our tamariki. 

Library News

Scholastic Book Club Term  3 2023 - Issue 5 is out now!
Issue 5 2023 catalogues have been distributed in your child's class. Deadline for orders is  on 1 August 2023. Please note that we do not take paper order forms or cash payments - all orders are done online via LOOP. Please go to https://mybookclub.scholastic.co.nz/Parent/Login.aspx to register. 
Any queries to Erwin Palado by emailing librarian@northland.school.nz
Once again, Scholastic Book Club has the FREE BOOK offer.

College Enrolments

The secondary schools in the Wellington Region would greatly appreciate if Year 8 parents and Whānau could enrol their young person for the 2024 academic year by submitting an application through the online enrolment form provided by your chosen secondary school prior to Monday, 24 July 2023.  This assists each school with its planning for the 2024 academic year, including allocating resources, class sizes, organising facilities and teaching staff.

Communication

We will continue to develop our communication about events, more specific details of the programmes in teams and the celebration of our children in their learning. We are making a few changes to the way you receive information.

School Newsletter -School newsletters are emailed on a Wednesday by 4pm every fortnight. This will be sent as a link that you will need to open. The newsletter will also be uploaded to the website. 

School Memo -A brief memo of events or important details that occur in between newsletters will be emailed to you on the alternative Wednesday by 4pm every fortnight.

Event Calendar Update -Each Friday you will receive an email with Calendar events for the following weeks.

School Website - Please refer to this many details such as latest news, staff, calendar, school policies. The banner is checked and changed daily. https://www.northland.school.nz/  

Seesaw - All families have been invited to join Seesaw by your child’s teacher. Seesaw is used across the school for sharing learning by the teacher and by children as they learn to post. At times you may also receive a quick message from the teacher eg, please remember togs tomorrow.

Absence, Appointments, Change of afterschool plan - If your child is sick or has an appointment please send an email to the school office,  or the absence line.

Absence

If your child is sick or has an appointment please contact the school OFFICE and the class teacher.  You can email or phone the office directly or go through the website absent form.    Ph 04 475 7596   office@northland.school.nz  

BSC - Before School Care

Bridget Hall  runs the Before School Care.  The cost from 7:30-8:30 is $10 or  from 8-8:30, the cost is $5. We are fortunate to be able to continue to provide this for you to make your mornings run well. 

Wellbeing - Matariki

Wellbeing - Positive Parenting SchoolTV platform

 https://northland.nz.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-celebrating-matariki

Matariki, is the celebration of the Māori New Year and the start of te maramataka, the lunar calendar. Matariki is rich with tradition. It is the Māori name for a cluster of 9 stars, 2 of which can be hard to make out with the naked eye. In other cultures, Matariki is known by other names. The Ancient Greeks referred to it as the Pleiades, Hawaiians call them Makali'i or 'eyes of royalty', and in Japan it is Subaru, meaning 'gathered together.' Today, they are also often referred to as The Seven Sisters.

SchoolDocs - Policies

SchoolDocs provides us with a comprehensive core set of policies, which have been well researched and follow the Ministry of Education National Administration Guidelines. The policies and procedures are tailored to our school, and the school supplies specific information such as our charter, and procedures for behaviour management, reporting to parents, etc.

We invite you to visit the site at https://northland.schooldocs.co.nz (note that there's no "www."). Our username is "northland" and password "orangikaupapa"

Our Value Kind - Manaaki

Our quality is Respect  -  Respect is an attitude of caring about people and treating them with dignity. Respect is valuing ourselves and others. We show respect by speaking and acting with courtesy.  When we are respectful we treat others as we want to be treated. Respect includes honoring the rules of our family or school, which make life more orderly and peaceful. It is knowing that every man, woman and child deserves respect, including you.

Term Dates

 Term 3     Monday 17 July - Friday 22 September                                                                                                           Term 4     Monday 9 October - Friday 15 December       TOD  24 November    Curriculum Refresh

Calling all dancing singing acting 6-13yr

Greater Northland Amateur Theatre Company

It's that time of year again. Greater Northland Amateur Theatre company is preparing for our annual show. This year it will be a modern interpretation of Peter Pan. Calling all singing, dancing and acting 6-13 year olds to join us for auditions on Saturday afternoon 22 July at the Northland School Hall 1.30-3pm or 3-4.30pm. No experience necessary. Further information is available on the website (https://gnatc.wordpress.com)

The shows will be performed at the Northland Memorial Community Centre on 14 and 15 October with rehearsals on Sunday afternoons through Term 3 and in the second week of the October school holidays (3-7 October). Please email Ryan Orange (Director) at northlandshow@outlook.com with any questions.

Community Notices

Check out our  New Notice Board in the school office, come in out check it out !